The Hockey Show - Episode 725

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back in the UMFM studios with all sorts of hockey stories that need discussing and examining. There are a handful of stories that once again cast shadows onto the sport, and we're not about to shy away from these stories because they have to be made part of the normal conversations if we're going to make a difference. There will be some tough stories to hear tonight along with our normal chatter about dumb stuff, so get yourself ready for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will discuss a disturbing local hockey hazing story that saw a player lose his suspension appeal, an OHL team billet on trial for terrible crimes, Hockey Canada's acceptance of a decision made on five of its former players, the insanity surrounding the USHL franchise that is supposed to be expanding into Phoenix, an AHL team likely moving, an NHL getting radio back, the same team having its TV broadcast get worse, the horrible ending to a contest, and anything else we can squeeze into the hour! It should be a fast-paced show, so make sure you're set and ready for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about unremorseful players, criminal billets, codes of conduct, arena problems, relocation foreshadowing, radio noise, TV noise, bad jerseys, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Shudder Island

Let's be honest right off the bat here in HBIC and say that this is the day that all of us have been waiting for since the New York Islanders announced their contest where anyone - fans, fashion designers, blind people, or players themselves - could design the Islanders' third jersey that they'll wear during the 2027-28 season. Today marked the day that the Islanders unveiled their eight finalists in their jersey design contest, and there was high hope that the new jerseys would be the best Islanders jersey in history. Of course, I may have set the bar a little high, so let's see what the Islanders gave us.

I'm going to look at each of these jerseys through an objective lens being that I own both a home and road Islanders jersey, a home Fisherman jersey, and a Stockton Thunder "Heritage Hockey" jersey from 2014 when the Thunder were an Islanders' affiliate. I'll also be conjuring the ghosts of the Bridgeport Islanders and that Islanders' Reverse Retro jersey when looking at the candidates, so let me be clear that I want to see original designs for this third jersey!

Without further adieu, let's check out these potential third jerseys!

NAVY LIGHTHOUSE: For as much of a fan as I am of the lighthouse logo, this jersey feels woefully incomplete. The lack of a shoulder yoke seems like an easy fix, but the teal colour isn't needed as a stripe. These are decent, but they could have been more.

JERSEY SCORE: ★★★☆☆

ORANGE LIGHTHOUSE: When did the Islanders become the Edmonton Oilers? Sure, there are minor differences, but this one is automatically disqualified for being an Oilers knockoff and for the awful 2014 Stadium Series shoulder logos. No orange jerseys.

JERSEY SCORE: ☆☆☆☆☆☆ (extra empty stars for awfulness)

NAVY FISHERMAN: This is the 2022-23 Reverse Retro, but the hemstripe is now a modified wave stripe. I do like the lighthouse shoulder patches, but the name and number fonts leaves a lot to be desired. These jerseys need more colour and contrast to have that Fisherman logo pop off the chest. On this jersey, it does not.

JERSEY SCORE: ★★☆☆☆

ORANGE FISHERMAN: We finally got some contrast, but there's just way too much orange here. I wanted a Fisherman jersey, not a beacon on the ice. Is that hemstripe supposed to be a wave? I'm getting Edmonton Oilers vibes off this jersey as well. Not good.

JERSEY SCORE: ★☆☆☆☆

NAVY NY LOGO: This jersey is all sorts of awful and it starts with that garbage logo. The contrast on the stripes is good, but no shoulder yokes nor shoulder patches make this jersey feel incomplete. As such, this jersey can show itself out of the contest. Hard "no" from me.

JERSEY SCORE: ☆☆☆☆☆

ORANGE NY LOGO: I should have said off the top that all Stadium Series jerseys in NHL history have been total garbage, and this proposed jersey follows those ill-conceived jerseys with only two colours, the awful NY logo, and a terrible orange base colour. Let me correct myself: this is the worst jersey of the bunch by far.

JERSEY SCORE: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (lots of extra empty stars)

NAVY WORDMARK: Where the heck is the logo? It's a stupid nickname jersey, not a New York Islanders jersey. Was the designer making knockoff jerseys for Wal-Mart and Target? The stripe contrasts are nice, but this is not an NHL-calibre jersey by any measure.

JERSEY SCORE: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (plenty of extra empty stars)

NAVY RUGBY: What the hell is this? Does this designer have a vested interest in rugby? The design is identical! This jersey commits the faux pas of having a chest stripe only on one side the jersey and the NY shoulder patches need to be outlawed. If the Islanders were a rugby team, they'd be ready for the pitch! Except they're not.

JERSEY SCORE: 🏉🏉🏉 (3/5 rugby balls)

Assuming that the Islanders received more than 80,000 submissions for their new third jerseys, these eight jerseys are some of THE WORST designs I have seen. And if you were paying attention while reading my scores, how is it that every front-facing jersey is wearing #62? Go back and look because it's not #26 based on the numbers that are visible. How did no one from the Islanders notice that detail?

Based on the jerseys chosen, it's clear that these alternate jerseys will only be worn at home since none of them have a white base colour. Frankly, the Islanders' white jerseys have, in my view, always looked better than the dark jerseys because the Islanders logo pops off the chest and has excellent contrast with the stripes. That was also true of the Fisherman jersey with its mix of colours and stripes, but I don't work for the Islanders when it comes to jersey design.

What I can tell you is that the eight designs above leave a lot to be desired. I get that the colour schemes and logos of the Islanders don't allow for a lot of variation when one is trying to come up with a snazzy third jersey, but there should have been an option for something other than navy and orange base colours. I took the liberty of desiging my own jersey which I kept upder wraps until now, so here's my design that the Islanders excluded from the final.

You might be thinking, "Teebz, those are just as bad as the jerseys above them," and you're entitled to your opinion. My thought process, however, was to recreate the arm and wave stripes in the same pattern as the background of the lighthouse logo, thereby tying the entire jersey together with the lighthouse logo being "on an island" in the middle of the jersey. I tried not to overthink this one.

I just don't see how any of the eight finalists they picked are remotely close to representing Long Island, the New York Islanders' history, nor the future of the franchise. I'd imagine these jerseys aren't one-and-done jerseys, but it sure feels like the Islanders are trying to make that happen with the eight finalists they chose. In any case, feel free to leave your takes in the comments below. I'm curious to see what people think of the finalists, but feel free to add your critique my jersey design if you like. I can handle it.

Based on my love for the Fisherman jersey, my design might be the ninth-best design shown here! Either way, Long Island is becoming Shudder Island with these frighteningly bad third jersey options.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Touring All Of Russia

You'd be excused if you don't recognize the man to the left immediately. That's Russian forward Evgeny Kuznetsov who formerly played with the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes, but has spent the last three seasons in the KHL. In 2025, he teased the idea of returning to the NHL before signing another deal in the KHL, and it seems that love of home cooking will keep him there this season after he signed with Sibir Novosibirsk today, marking his fourth KHL team in three seasons. It seems that he just can't find the right fit in Mother Russia, but he'll give it a shot in the middle of Russia this season as Sibir adds a bonafide star to its roster!

Kuznetsov was admitted into the NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program on February 5, 2024 as he sought help for rheumatoid arthritis for which he was diagnosed pills and injections. He was cleared a month later, but he clearly wasn't the same flashy player as he was with the Capitals earlier in his career. Washington waived him, Carolina claimed him, but he only played twenty games for the Hurricanes.

Kuznetsov would take his talents to SKA St. Petersburg in 2024-25 where he scored 12 goals and 37 points in 35 games, but he was largely invisible in the playoffs. He would move to Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2025-26, but lasted just 15 games there after scoring one goal and nine points. Metallurg would let him walk to Salavat Yulayev Ufa where he'd find more success with six goals and 18 points in 19 games, but he's missed more games than he's played in the last two seasons. Will that change after signing with Sibir?

At 34 years-old, it's hard to imagine that Sibir Novosibirsk will see a renaissance of the 2018 player that scored 27 goals and 83 points in the regular season before ripping through the playoffs with 12 goals and 32 points in 24 games en route to helping Washington win its first Stanley Cup. He could help Sibir improve on its 15-29-15-9 record (W-L-ETW-ETL) and eighth-place finish in the Eastern Conference, but they're going to need a big year out of the former NHL scoring star.

He could help players like last year's leading scorer Anton Kosolapov find a new level if he can bring leadership and vision, and veteran centerman Taylor Beck should give him a playmaking center if he can still skate as well as we've seen. Sibir's not going to hunt down teams like Ak Bars Kazan or Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Eastern Conference with an addition like Kuznetsov, but avoiding them in the first round should be the target goal for this team this season.

The fun part of Kuznetsov's move to his fourth KHL team is that he's 18 teams away from completing the set. He starred with Traktor Chelyabinsk before jumping to the NHL, has now added three more teams to his resumé, and could conceivably suit up for every team by age 44 if he keeps up his current pace of landing with new teams!

Jokes aside, here's hoping that Evgeny Kuznetsov brings some scoring and leadership to Sibir Novosibirsk while playing a mentor role to some of Sibir's younger players. We know Kuznetsov doesn't have a lot of defensive tactics to share, but my guess is that Sibir wants him to dent twine rather than stickchecking opponents. I don't think he's going to put them over the top in their pursuit of the Gagarin Cup, but Sibir Novosibirsk got their star with Kuznetsov's signing today.

Will the "Birdman" fly again? We'll find out in Novosibirsk this season!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

And Then There Were Seven

Swiss hockey league fans will likely recognize the smiling face to the left as long-time Swedish star Fanny Rask who played with HC Ambrì-Piotta women's team in the PostFinance women's league in Switzerland. Fask had a solid season last year as she finished eleventh in Swiss League scoring, but the HC Ambrì-Piotta won't benefit from her presence on their roster or anyone else's presence on that roster after they decided to withdraw from the PostFinance Women's League for the 2026-27 season. As a result of that decision, the league will operate with seven teams this season after last season's fourth-place team cited a lack of prospects as the reason they would be unable to field a team.

As you may recall, SC Langenthal already shut down its program at the end of the 2025-26 season, and the SWHL-A league decided to promote Lausanne HC Féminin from the SWHL-B league to take Langenthal's spot. The eight-team schedule was released on July 3, 2026 with HC Ambrì-Piotta slotted in for the full season, but it seems things changed dramatically over the last month in Ambri.

On July 30, 2026, the team released the following statement:

"In recent weeks, the club has made every possible effort to complete the squad and create the necessary conditions to approach the season in a serious, sustainable manner that meets sporting expectations. Despite these efforts, it has not been possible to find a sufficient number of players to assemble a suitable squad."

I'm not saying that the growth of the PWHL is hurting European leagues, but seeing one of the better SWHL teams close the doors on this season isn't good. HC Ambrì-Piotta did note in their statement that this isn't the end for the Swiss women's club, stating,

"The club will immediately begin work to examine the sporting, organizational, and financial prerequisites necessary for a potential return to the National League B starting the following season. The goal will be to develop a solid and sustainable project that promotes the players and creates concrete prospects for the future of women's ice hockey in the blue and white."

Um, yay? The Ambrì-Piotta will voluntarily join the SWHL-B as they rebuild, but how do they attract talent to do that if they couldn't attract talent to play in Switzerland's top women's league? I'll let the powers-that-be who run HC Ambrì-Piotta answer that question, but I would guess that there are a pile of Canadian and American university graduates who would have jumped at the opportunity to join HC Ambrì-Piotta if given the chance. But we'll never know now.

As it stands, Lausanne HC's debut in the SWHL-A will be pushed back to September 13 thanks to HC Ambrì-Piotta's absence while the ZSC Lions will have their home-opener postponed until September 20 for the same reason. The full schedule can be found here, but it looks like two teams will have a bye every weekend this season with the empty slots once occupied by the HC Ambrì-Piotta squad.

Losing two teams in the span of four months doesn't make the SWHL-A stronger, and it appears that the SWHL-A will look to backfill these absences in their league by eliminating the relegation playoff between the PostFinance Women's League and the SWHL-B. It seems the top SWHL-B will only be promoted to bring the SWHL-A back to eight teams. Whether or not that relegation playoff is resumed in 2027-28 will have to be seen, but it feels like the SWHL-A is on shaky ground right now when it comes to the health of the league.

Here's hoping that HC Ambrì-Piotta can get their situation sorted out because the SWHL at all levels needs stable teams. Swiss hockey is good hockey and it shouldn't be overlooked, but eliminating teams makes finding roster spots that much harder. HC Ambrì-Piotta should have a full roster, but they'll reset and start over next season.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Touch Grass

HBIC has always had the mindset of "of the people, by the people, for the people" in presenting topics and ideas from my perspective. I'm not one to claim I'm an authority on anything within the game because there's always room to learn more, see more, and do more. One of the things I appreciate is getting emails about things I've written becase that feedback tells me that someone took the time to read my ramblings, but it's also a real-time receipt on whether I'm doing a good job in building the arguments that I present. Today, I need to address one of those emails right here.

I received an email this weekend that, in part, read,

"Why have you not written about the Hlinka Cup? Canada is doing so well, and it looks like Canadian hockey is on the comeback! Any comments on that?"

I'll give a nod to the writer for his enthusiasm for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and I can say that Team Canada is doing well. They have a number of solid players, including a couple of 16 year-olds, that are lighting up the scoreboards at the tournament, and it seems that Canada is poised for another international tournament win. Other countries will do their best to disrupt that, but Canada's on a roll.

I'm not here to take the wind out of anyone's sails, but I can honestly say that I never once thought about hockey in August when I was 16. I get that these players who are wearing the maple leaf at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup are massively talented compared to my skills at that age, but imagine hockey being a full-time job for anyone at the age when they should be enjoying their first official driver's license.

Make no mistake that it's an honour to be identified and selected by Hockey Canada as one of the best players across this country as a 17 year-old, and skating in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup should be celebrated. On the other hand, there are hundreds of kids who are in rinks right now who weren't selected, and there are thousands more who are enjoying summer by playing other sports, hanging out with friends, and taking road trips all over the map. In short, they're having a good time being teenagers, and that's an important part of life.

This article isn't about the 25 Canadian kids skating for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, but it is for the thousands of kids who never received a letter from Hockey Canada inviting them to a camp. Hockey doesn't have to be a full-time job, and it should never define you as to who you are. People don't say, "There goes Jeff, the hockey player" when you walk by, but they do think, "Hey, there's Jeff who I hung with this summer and is a cool guy". If you're only focused on hockey, you're going to miss out on a lot other fun things in life.

No one is saying that you shouldn't be committed to getting better, not practising and playing hard, nor ignoring the feedback one gets from coaches. What I am saying is that hockey doesn't need to be a full-time job at the age of 16 unless one chooses to make that decision and commits to that decision. There are lots of talented hockey players who have made that decision and walked away from the game before reaching the CHL, let alone the NHL, and I often wonder if not participating in the summer activities that made one successful leads to leaving the game earlier than one may want.

In the end, no one is saying to give up hockey, and I want to be clear that anyone reading this who wants a career in hockey should still continue to work on improving those skills and talents needed to climb the hockey ladder. What I am saying, though, is that it's ok to skip a week-long camp, turn down a summer tournament, or enjoy some time at the lake to recharge the batteries. Hockey's a gruelling sport as shown by the mental health challenges faced by NHL players, and we know that adolescence ages are where "maladaptive neurobehavioral development" can begin in teens due to stressors.

I'm not saying that anyone needs to abandon the dream of playing in the NHL. That's a goal that all hockey players have, and it's one that can and should be pursued. What I am saying with the "touch grass" title is that it's ok to take a break from that goal to help one refocus. Hockey souldn't be a full-time job for anyone at 16, so we should encourage kids to spend more time away from the rink whenever possible to help keep that goal in focus. If we preach everything in moderation, that too should be applied to the game of hockey.

Canada's doing extremely well at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and I hope they bring home some hardware. But if we want this game to get better for everyone, we need to encourage kids to just be kids whenever we can. There's more to life than just a rink and hockey.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Replaced By Whom?!?

I will fully admit that I am befuddled when it comes to what Rogers Communications is doing with its hockey broadcasts. Aside from raising prices to drive away subscribers and killing access to NHL hockey by eliminating CBC as a partner, their most recent decision to not renew Kelly Hrudey's contract seems to be another boneheaded decision from the TV network gatekeeping hockey in Canada.

Hrudey worked Calgary Flames broadcasts on Sportsnet during the week before travelling to Toronto to join the national broadcast on Saturday nights. He was an excellent analyst that brought a goaltender's perspective to the game, and he was excellent in his breakdowns and examinations of what was happening on the ice. His analyses often caught subtle things that others on the Sportsnet panel missed and I, for one, appreciated his insights on the game.

Hrudey reportedly received the news on June 19, ending a run that saw the former NHL netminder join CBC's Hockey Night in Canada in 1998 after completing a 677-game NHL career. The former Islanders, Kings, and Sharks goalie had been contributing to CBC's coverage for four seasons before he retired after his team had been eliminated, so a 32-year run for Hrudey came to an end because Rogers is cheap.

Is Rogers Communications purposely trying to kill hockey broadcasts?

That answer might be "yes" after news broke today that Kelly Hrudey's now-vacant seat will be filled by Winnipeg Jets analyst Kevin Sawyer. The Athletic's Sean Shapiro and Harman Dayal compiled the 2021 NHL broadcast rankings, and the reviews and ranking of Winnipeg's broadcast team of Dennis Beyak and Kevin Sawyer read,

"Outside of Winnipeg, the Jets broadcast scored as one of the best in the league. Locally, however, it ranked 21st with mixed reviews. That discrepancy in ranking — rated fourth nationally but 21st locally — is the largest around the NHL in our survey."

That 12th-overall ranking of NHL broadcasts was pulled down by negative comments about the color commentator that read,

"'Kevin Sawyer's unconditional praise of the team is a bit hard to take even for someone who loves the Jets like me,' said one of many local respondents who believe the broadcast isn't balanced enough."

I'll fully admit that I disliked almost everything about Sawyer's comments and delivery when he spoke on the broadcasts, so TSN letting him walk to Sportsnet is a huge bonus for the sixty Jets games I'll watch this season on TSN. His preference for talking into the next play while Beyak and Dan Robertson sit quietly as the play unfolds annoyed me to no end, and his refusal to criticize anyone for mistakes made his analyses sound phony. I don't need a homer.

If Sawyer is replacing Kelly Hrudey on Calgary Flames broadcasts, Flames fans will notice the drop-off in the quality of the analyses between Hrudey and Sawyer. I have no idea why Sportsnet would view this as a smart upgrade when there are a pile of people they could have tapped for Hrudey's spot like Meghan Mikkelson, Jason York, Cassie Campbell-Pascale, or recently-retired Tyson Barrie.

Sawyer has 110 games of NHL experience compared to years of working around the Flames franchise like the four people listed above. What would even suggest to Rogers that Kevin Sawyer would be an adequate replacement for an outgoing legend like Hrudey?

I'm bewildered by what Rogers is doing with their broadcasts after committing $11 billion to the NHL for the next twelve years of games. If they're just going to drive their broadcasts into the ground by cutting excellent broadcasters and replacing them with mediocre analysts, why did they spend the money at all?

As I wrote at the start of July, Sportsnet buying the rights to NHL hockey hasn't seen the game get better on TV. Arguably, it's gotten worse since they owned the rights, and it got much worse with the news this week of Hrudey leaving and Sawyer joining. But why should Rogers care if people keep throwing money at them to watch hockey?

This is the proverbial rock and hard place, Flames fans. You lose a competent, intelligent analyst for a guy who waxes poetic about players who should be in the pressbox. I'd suggest cancelling your Sportsnet subscription, but it's the only way you can watch the majority of Flames games this season. And this is the gamble that Rogers Sportsnet is making: you won't cancel your subscription to watch the Flames no matter what talking head is doing analysis.

Isn't it fun when corporations hold your hockey fandom hostage?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 724

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight with a little fun, some hockey news, and some bizarre stories from the hockey world. There will be stories this week that appeared on week's prior, but new details have emerged. The business of hockey never seems to go quiet when so many people are making what appear to be bad decisions, but that's life in professional hockey. Of course, our hosts will try to work in some laughs as well tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will look at the alarming trend of hockey teams eliminating radio play-by-play from their offerings for fans, Rogers Communications making life difficult for fans once again, a hockey camp being held in a weird location, one of the ECHL's most storied franchises is celebrating an anniversary and another individual award, fans will have more jerseys to choose from for an NHL team, the Hurricanes are enjoying their Stanley Cup success, and there's a fun story about a long-time GM who was a head coach for one summer! It's a busy show with a ton of topics to go over tonight, so settle in for some fun on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about creating experiences, financial loss, dumb camps, fun history, jersey madness, ticket sales, bad coaches, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It's Icy Again!

I usually don't spend a lot of time talking about mascots on HBIC simply because they don't generate many stories. I did spend a little time on July 24 talking about the mascot to the left in Icy D. Eagle after Friend of the Blog Fiona Quinn asked about Icy's appearance as the Winnipeg Jets' mascot back in 1995. In that article, I had mentioned that Icy was " a regular in the nominations for the annual ECHL Mascot of the Year award", and that voting happened this week for the 2026 award. Of course, you shouldn't be surprised that Icy D. Eagle won his third ECHL Mascot of the Year award as Komets fans put Icy on the map again, but you should be impressed with what else they did to celebrate Icy's third crown as the ECHL's best mascot!

You may have heard that the Fort Wayne Komets are celebrating their 75th anniversary this season, so they're really digging into their history. They'll wear three jerseys representing the championship teams from each of the eras in which they won the Turner Cup. Frankly, those jerseys look incredible, and I'm seriously giving those 1991-92 jerseys some thought about joining my collection.

Personal closets aside, the Komets also produced a video celebrating their long-time mascot's history of how Icy joined the Komets! Check out this great video of Icy, and note the Winnipeg clip in the footage!
How amazing is that? Full marks to the Fort Wayne Komets for creating this video! How many other teams have videos of their mascots from all different eras with an audio recap of the mascot's history? Hint: not many, if any, at all. This video is more evidence as to why the Komets are one of the classiest minor-pro teams, though!

I feel pretty proud that I contributed two seconds of footage to the video above thanks to finding that YouTube video of the Jets and Stars in 1995. Fiona gave me a shout-out on Twitter after the Komets posted the video, but I will gladly downplay my "work" because the other 80 seconds that the Komets provided is so darned good!

I clearly have no effect on how the Komets play or how they'll finish the 2026-27 season, but they are starting this season off by doing everything right. The three historical jerseys are replicas of the ones worn in each of the three championship seasons, they're honouring their past with reverence and resepct, and they're signing good players to make a run when the action on the ice starts. If the hockey gods are watching, everything they're doing since kicking into 75th anniversary mode should win the graces of said hockey gods!

Congratulations to Icy on being voted as the ECHL's best mascot for the third time, and keep up the great anniversary work, Komets!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Coach Chevy?

Full marks to any hockey fan who can name the jersey to the left because I certainly could not when I first saw it. If you are old enough to remember Roller Hockey International as a hockey fan, you may remember the Denver Daredevils wearing these jerseys. I certainly did not, but we didn't get many roller hockey games broadcast in Canada and there was no local team in Winnipeg. The Daredevils lasted just one season in RHI where they weren't all that great, but we need to talk about the head coach in their lone season of wheeled hockey action because he's well-known in Winnipeg hockey circles.

Specifically, I want to bring to your attention this snippet of news.

You're reading that correctly as Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was the head coach of RHI's Denver Daredevils for one season! Can anyone picture Cheveldayoff behind the bench of a pro roller hockey team? I can't see him enjoying that experience at all.

It happened in the summer of 1996, though, and the Daredevils went 8-17-3 with those three games being losses in overtime. They only had two NHL players on their roster in Stephane Roy who played 12 total games with the Minnesota North Stars and Derek Laxdal who played 67 NHL games with the Leafs and Islanders. They mostly had players who found success in minor-pro hockey like Jay Neal, Kevin St. Jacques, and Darryl Olsen, but the Daredevils struggled.

Their first game was a 13-7 loss to the Vancouver Voodoo on June 1, 1996 which means that Brandon Sun snippet was filed two months after Cheveldayoff coached his first game and one week before he coached his last game on August 16, 1996 when Denver beat the Oakland Skates by an 11-10 score. With the Daredevils finishing at the bottom of the five-team Pacific Division standings, there wouldn't be a playoff run for the first-year, Mile-High roller hockey team.

Denver would finish as the third-worst team in the RHI that season, ahead of the 3-22-3 Ottawa Loggers and the 7-17-4 New Jersey Rockin' Rollers. The Long Island Jawz, who expanded into the RHI at the same time as Denver, finished with a 16-9-3 record, so it's pretty clear that whoever put together the Daredevils' roster didn't exactly build the most talented team. That may have included the 26 year-old head coach who had no roller hockey experience at that time.

Obviously, I have no access to the Winnipeg Jets nor any of their front-office staff, so I'm hoping that someone from those who have been granted access can sit down with Kevin Cheveldayoff and pick his brain about his one season in Denver coaching roller hockey. The Daredevils would cease to exist after their one summer in the Mile High City, but there's a fun connection to explore between the NHL's Winnipeg Jets and Roller Hockey International's Denver Daredevils!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Peppers Over Hockey

It's officially the first Monday of August where there isn't a lot of important hockey happening. I feel like it's going to be pretty slow for the remainder of the month, so I'm going to dive into a little cooking today as let my mind escape any thoughts of work, hockey, events, and everything else that has locked up hours of my life. If there's one thing that puts my mind at ease, it's making a delicious meal! And bonus points for what I'm going to highlight in this article because the main ingredient came straight out of the HBIC vegetable garden!

I had purchased an Asian pepper plant at the local greenhouse earlier this spring as I was looking for some variety for my pepper choices. There are the standard jalapeno and banana pepper plants that are growing with it, but this Asian pepper plant produced a ton of waxy, green peppers that have been waiting to be plucked from the branches! I fully admit I had no idea these peppers had when it came to spice level nor was I sure about their taste, but I was determined to find a dish or preparation method for these peppers that would make me appreciate them!

I went to the internet to find that I had planted shishito peppers which are green while growing, but turn red when ripe. The pepper is mild when it comes to the spice level with only 5-10% having noticeable heat, and this heat is brought on by environmental stressors such as high heat and drought-like conditions. Clearly, this was something to note so I wasn't biting into an eye-watering, mouth-burning pepper! Thankfully, we haven't been short on water.

Most recipes suggested simply pan-frying them in oil and lightly salting them. However, one recipe noted the irregular shapes that shishito peppers take on, and it was suggested to toss the peppers in oil so that the peppers' skins would be evenly coated no matter which side was on the pan. I opted for this route and I have to say that not only did it work well, but there has hardly any oil left in the pan once I was done cooking. That's a tip I'll use again in the future!

Cooking them was quite easy as I simply put the heat on medium, popped the peppers into the frying pan once it heated up sufficiently, and they started to do their thing. There was sizzling and popping that happened where I failed to poke a hole in the skin to allow the air to escape from inside the pepper, but it made no difference in the end. Nothing exploded thanks to the shishido pepper's thin skin, so I got out alive on that one. That being said, let the peppers blister and char as much as you like, and then remove from the heat!

Once they had cooled slightly, I drizzled them in lemon juice, sprinkled them with salt, and added them as the side to my grilled salmon entree. The real test for these peppers was moments away!

Before we get into the taste test, I didn't cut or open up the peppers in any way, so there could have been more absorption of the salt and lemon juice I added for a bit of taste. I'm not saying that adding any flavouring or spices is a guaranteed way to make the peppers taste better, but that waxy coating that was trying to blister off may have prevented some of that absorption. I'm all about the simple flavours, though, so this worked for my taste requirements. The peppers were also easier to eat with the small stems that I left on as I could eat them with my hands, but it was just as easy to stab them with a fork. Alongside the salmon, they provided a great side option that pulled the lemon flavours together, and a 100-gram serving is 4.7 carbohydrates, around 2-3 grams of fibre, and 2.5 grams of protein!

Overall, they have a slight peppery taste as one would expect from a bell pepper, but they are very mild and taste pretty good! The salt and lemon juice helps, but they could easily be tossed in garlic and tomatoes for a delicious side or, as some suggested, eaten raw in a salad. With another crop of peppers nearly ready on the plant already, I'll be going back for more shishido peppers this summer! And, of course, I will be planting these peppers again next summer!

I spent my Monday afternoon doing a little learning about shishito peppers, preparing some salmon, making sugar-free chocolate pudding, and cooking Big Mac meatloaf for quick meals this week! Don't think that I won't be enjoying that meatloaf this week at work or elsewhere because it sounds incredible. However, I was very impressed with the shishito peppers I'm growing as a side dish, and I may start incorporating them into more meals as the summer closes!

It's back to hockey on HBIC tomorrow, but it was worth getting to know the shishito pepper after tonight's meal! Bon appetit!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

New Zealand Crowns A Champion

With the calendar flipping to August and the summer entering its later stages of the season, summer hockey leagues and camps will begin to give way to full seasons once more. When the seasons are flipped, though, teams who play through the winter in the southern hemisphere will get to look forward to warm summer days like we're experiencing now. That's the case for the New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League as the NZWIHL crowned a champion today despite the game being televised during the wee hours of Saturday in North America! Which teams made the final and what were the storylines? Let's take a dive into the NZWIHL!

The two teams shown above were your finalists from the four-team NZWIHL as the Auckland Steel and Wakatipu Wild earned their way into the final game to determine the 2026 NZWIHL championship. The Wild beat the Dunedin Thunder on Saturday to book their spot in the final while the Steel dismissed the Canterbury Thunder earlier on Saturday to claim their berth as well. Dunedin, it should be noted, beat the Thunder in the bronze medal game on Sunday afternoon.

Auckland came into the final as the favorite thanks to posting an undefeated regular season where they went 11-0-1-0 for 35 points. That one overtime win came back on July 25 when the Steel needed 57 seconds beyond regulation time to win 2-1 over Dunedin. Jasmine Horner-Pascoe scored her 14th goal in overtime for that win, and she'd finish second in team and league scoring with 26 points. League leader Katya Blong had 35 points, third-place leader Lauren Askenazy had 21 points, and fourth-place leader Brooke Patron had 17 points all for Auckland. In short, they scored a lot and won a lot.

Wakapitu struggled to find their rhythm this season, posting a 2-6-1-3 record for 11 points and finishing in third-place. Kelli Burstein ha a good season with ten goals and 14 points, but no other Wild player scored more than seven points. New Zealand-born Jordan Wichman was 2-3-1-0 this season with a 2.75 GAA and a .921 save percentage, but it's hard to win games when the Wild only averaged 2.00 goals-per-game. However, a four-goal outburst by Burstein powered the Wild to a 5-1 win past the Thunder in their playoff game for an unexpected chance at Sunday's NZWIHL championship!

Would the Wild have enough left in the tank to upset Auckland?

That question was answered early in Sunday's championship game as Auckland scored three times in the opening ten minutes and five times in the first frame to pace the Steel to a 5-1 lead after twenty minutes. The teams would trade goals in the middle period before Auckland tacked on two more in third period to skate to the 8-2 championship win as the 2026 NZWIHL season came to a close!

Highlights from the NZWIHL championship game can be seen below!


What's fun in all of this is seeing a player like Katya Blong do well as she skates with McGill where she's earning her kinesiology degree. Blong looks like she's going to be one of New Zealand's best players for a long time, and it's awesome to her skating in the Canadian university circuit. Brooke Patron was a Saskatchewan Huskies defender for four seasons and she appears to be helping the NZWIHL and the Steel with her skills. Goaltender Alexa Gibson seems to be enjoying life in Auckland after skating for the Ottawa Gee-Gees!

Even cooler is that Lochlyn Hyde, who splits the goaltending duties with Gibson, has jumped into the NZIHL - the men's league - on occasion when teams have needed a goaltender. To date, Hyde has played three games in the top division where she has a 3.50 GAA and an .885 save percentage, and has helped out the second-division league twice where she's officially 1-1-0! How cool is that?

On the other side, Wakatipu had no players who suited up in U SPORTS, but Kelli Berstein did play for the University of Minnesota. However, the gap in skill between these two teams was evident in the final as Auckland outshot Wakatipu 38-22 and controlled the play a lot. I get that no one is going to tell Auckland to break their team up to disperse talent across the other three teams, but the 14-point gap between Auckland and second-place Dunedin is hard to fathom in a four-team league. Something has to change for New Zealand hockey to continue to develop good players for international competitions.

Congratulations to the Auckland Steel on winning their fourth-straight NZWIHL championship! It's their eighth championship overall in the NZWIHL, and I imaging they'll be gunning for a fifth-consecutive and ninth-overall championship in 2027 if everything goes well. Perhaps we'll see another team step in and claim victory, but another solid season is in the book for Kiwi hockey, the NZWIHL, and its players!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

What's All the Buzz?

I rarely get to enjoy a good baseball game from the perspective of a fan because I'm usually working in the pressbox for the local professional team. Last night, however, I broke free from the pressbox and sat in the patio area with a pile of my colleagues from my day job where we got to watch the Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball team don a new identity as they searched for their sixth win in a row! If you came here for hockey chatter, there will be some at the end as I relate this fun night of baseball back to hockey, but this article is all about having a good time as a fan, enjoying a beautiful night on a patio, and watching the home team as a fan rather than a stats guy for the first time in a long time! And if the Goldeyes could beat Lincoln, that's even better!

If you have a larger group who wants to attend a baseball game, the patio at Blue Cross Park is a great way to get that group to the ballgame. The Malibu Patio, where we sat, holds 65 people and located right in the left field corner above the Goldeyes' bullpen. The sightlines are incredible from this location as you can see virtually everything happening in the park, and it didn't hurt that this was prime seating for the fireworks display scheduled after the game!

The patio has serving staff assigned to it and a private bar so that the group never would never need to venture far if it needed food or beverages. We declined the serving staff as there were many different requests for food, but the private bar was used all night and was a solid added benefit. Combined with the patio tables, umbrellas, and bar-like seating around the railing, the Malibu Patio as perfect for a group of our size to enjoy a night at the ballpark!

The Goldeyes debuted their one-time-only alternate identities last night as they took the field as the Manitoba Mosquitoes to welcome the Lincoln Saltdogs to town, and the Mosquitoes were buzzing early in this game. Five runs in the first inning followed by two more in the second and four more in the third inning put the Mosquitoes up 11-0 early on the Saltdogs, and it seemed like all Manitoba had to do was nurse that lead. Adding to the fun was pitcher Ryo Kohigashi as the league's third-best pitcher for strikeouts was dealing again on Friday night, striking out nine Saltdogs to push his total to 79 this season. That leaves him ten punchouts back of the league lead, so the Fish have a hurler who could win one of the key stats races before the season is over! But the bigger question was if the Mosquitoes could keep the win streak going.

Despite surrendering four runs in the top of the fifth inning, the Saltdogs would get no more as the Goldeyes used that early run support to cruise to the 11-4 win on a gorgeous night at the ballpark. No homeruns were hit on night, but centerfielder Noah Marcelo led the way with three RBIs to pace the Goldeyes. On the fun side, Lincoln's Cary Arbolida struck out to send the fans home with free pancakes, and Lincoln's Nick Schumpert went home with a platinum sombrero after striking out swinging five times in the game! Ouch!

After the game wrapped up with high-fives and handshakes on the Goldeyes/Mosquitoes side of the field, the fireworks display literally happened right in front of us, giving us the best view of the night sky. A handful of brightly-coloured explosions brought oohs and aahs from the crowd that stayed behind for the display, and the kids who were part of our group were absolutely thrilled with the spectacle!

Some people ask me why I love minor-league professional sports, and it's stuff like this where the local team dons a new identity for a fun night at the ballpark or rink. We've seen lots of teams rebrand to represent their communities, and I honestly love that minor-pro teams do this as often as they do. I get that the professional teams are tied to their communities as well, but minor-pro baseball and hockey teams always seem to have fun rebrands and jerseys they roll out every season. Seeing these ideas come to life is so much fun!

If you want to know why I support leagues like the AHL and ECHL more than I support the NHL, it's for this very reason. Sports are supposed to be fun and every time a minor-pro team rebrands or has a crazy bobblehead night or some other zany promotion, the end result is a fun night at a stadium or arena. Our group had a blast last night, there was a buzz about the Mosquitoes jerseys and how good they looked, and the Mosquitoes showed up in a big way to send the crowd home happy. Add in good food, good baseball, an awesome fireworks display, and ticket prices that didn't put anyone into financial distress, and the end result was an incredible night at Blue Cross Park in Winnipeg.

I'm not telling you not to cheer for your favorite NHL teams and players, but I am saying you should go support the minor-pro teams whenever you can. Having fun nights as the Manitoba Mosquitoes, in my view, should be encouraged as often as possible so we see more fun jerseys like the Manitoba Polar Bears and the Winnipeg SeaBears' Space Jam jerseys. And if minor-pro teams can attract more fans with these fun rebrandings and a winning attitude, that helps the minor-pro franchise and the community it serves in a big way!

I'm off to the ballpark again tonight, only I'll be doing stats in the pressbox. There's serious buzz coming from downtown Winnipeg, though, as the Goldeyes search for their seventh win in a row and their third series win in a row. Maybe the bigger question is who could have thought that Manitobans would love Mosquitoes?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Credit Where It's Due

I'll be the first to tell you that I rarely ever celebrate anything that the IIHF does. Yes, they've done some good things to push international hockey to a better place, but they often kowtow to bigger forces like the NHL and the IOC when it comes to important moments and events. With one of those two - specifically, the IOC - allowing Russia and Belarus back into the upcoming Olympic Games, it seemed like the IOC had once again turned the screws on the IIHF who has oversight on the Olympic hockey events. Tape screech sound effect, though, because it seems the IIHF not only has teeth, but is willing to bite the hand of the IOC with their announcment today regarding the two countries.

We'll go back to 2022 when the International Ice Hockey Federation banned both Russia and Belarus from international hockey events "until further notice" after Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a war that has lasted longer than the six weeks that Vladimir Putin had predicted. The IIHF also pulled the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship from Novosibirsk, Russia, further backing their commitment to upholding member nations participating in events as long as they were in good standing on the world stage.

2023 saw the IIHF uphold the ban as the IIHF expressed "security concerns for players, competition staff and fans" over including Russia and Belarus at international hockey events. IIHF president Luc Tardif stated bluntly, "Too many risks" when asked if the two countries would return, and I was again was relieved that the IIHF was taking its founding principles seriously. I'll give them credit.

2024 saw more of the same from the IIHF as the ban was extended again, stating in a release that "it is not yet safe to reincorporate the Russian and Belarusian teams back into IIHF competitions". Those security concerns would extend the ban through 2025's events, and it would carry into 2026 where the IIHF saw its icy stance start to thaw.

It's hard to imagine that the IIHF was going to look at Russian and Belarus as being welcomed at any event, but the IIHF was willing to look at each situation on a case-by-case basis. The IIHF made it clear that this decision "explicitly confirmed that this does not mean that Russia has automatically been reintegrated" and that the decision to "reintegrate Belarus at the under-18 men's and women's events and the women's Division IV world championship" would move forward.

With the war between Russia and Ukraine still ongoing, on what planet did the IIHF think this was close to being a good idea?

Sometimes, a bad idea just needs some real world testing to reverse the decision made, and the IIHF did that on Thursday, stating "that Russia will not be allowed to participate in... IIHF Championships during the 2026-2027 season due to ongoing safety, security and sporting integrity concerns". As much as I dislike Belarus' inclusion, keeping Russia out is the right decision considering their ongoing war with Ukraine. This was the right move based on world events.

I've seen people on social media already criticizing the IIHF over this decision, saying that hockey is less without Russia's participation. To that end, I say you're welcome to your opinion despite it being completely ignorant of what the people of Ukraine - also an IIHF member! - are going through in this war they didn't want. People claim that Russian athletes have no say in what their military is doing, but each member of Russia's hockey player will wear the Russian Ice Hockey Federation's jersey as a national symbol.

Indirectly, that's support of Russia's war efforts because of how tightly hockey is tied to Russian culture and how the federation is funded.

If Russia wanted their athletes participating in the World Juniors or World Championships, they could easily do that by abandoning their war efforts in Ukraine and leaving the Ukrainian territory immediately. It would take some time for the world to trust that the Russians were serious about their intentions to rejoin the majority of the planet in trying to be good neighbours, but at least they could find some solace in that their athletes would be back on international stages where they could compete. But that's not going to happen.

If there's one thing that today's world lacks more than anything else, it's empathy for others. When one considers the plight of the Ukrainian people who wanted nothing to do with this war, but are forced to defend themselves, we might want to take a stand against the bully known as Russia. Hockey doesn't matter when it comes to helping a country defeat evil, but keeping them out of international hockey tournaments is a good message to send to Russia that they're not welcome at the party while being bullying a smaller country.

It doesn't take a lot to be a morally-sound person, and the IIHF deserves a little credit for making the right decision here. For as profitable as future IIHF tournaments could be with Russia involved, being a better organization will have longer-lasting effects than the short-term gain of letting warmongering Russia back into the game.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 723

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is diving into the financial side of the game tonight with a significant look at what's been happening over the last week when it comes to hockey and media. You likely know about Amazon getting into Canadian hockey broadcasts, but there are a number of other money-related stories from the hockey world that need some discussion tonight. We'll dive into those stories because, as fans, our hosts see problems on the horizon in the game that need addressing tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will take a look at the deal between Rogers and Amazon and discuss why it happened, why Amazon's day moved, and what we might be seeing as a bigger problem in hockey. Beyond that discussion, they'll chat about Columbus cutting its radio play-by-play in favour of simulcasted TV play-by-play, Hamilton Hammers ticket prices, a new Hall-of-Famer, a contest coming to a close, and the insanity that will be travel for one league this season. There's a lot of topics tonight that will have a money theme to them, so you'll want to be ready for an hockey's untrained finanical audit by two radio hosts on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about financial bubbles, bad deals, bad broadcasts, inflated prices, honoured players, elimination processes, unnecessary travel, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: July 30, 2026: Episode 723

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Another Dumb Idea

As a guy who watched a hockey team make the inexplicable decision to simply walk away from a radio contract that had brought the team some popularity in its market, it was hard to understand what the Columbus Blue Jackets were trying to achieve by not renewing the contract of radio play-by-play broadcaster Bob McElligott. McElligott had 17 years of experience calling games on the radio, and he was a trusted voice for Blue Jackets fans. Starting this season, that voice will be absent as the team looks to simulcast its TV broadcast on the radio which may lead to no radio in the future.

As per the announcement today, "all Blue Jackets game broadcasts will be simulcast across television and radio platforms, allowing fans to experience the same live game coverage whether watching on television or listening on the radio". Steve Mears and Jody Shelley will be calling the action on both mediums now, but this idea seems to forget that these two mediums are significantly different in how the actual broadcasts sound. TV is not radio, so this could go poorly.

As you likely know from watching hockey on TV, the action on the TV doesn't always have to be described because you, as the viewer, can see it. It's part of the reason why every ticket to a game doesn't come with a guy who sits besides you and describes the action. You're able to process what's happening on the ice because you can see it, and the TV broadcast will call the play and fill in the analysis gaps.

You don't get that same benefit with radio because there is no visual component. The audio hardly lends itself to knowing what's happening on the ice, so the radio play-by-play person does a lot more talking to describe what's happening on the ice at all times. There's a signficant difference in how the game sounds when there are big gaps between plays called on radio whereas TV can handle that with its visuals. That's why TV-to-radio simulcasts don't work.

If the Columbus Blue Jackets are letting Bob McElligott as a cost-cutting move, there are likely hundreds of other things they could have done to save a few bucks because there is no way their product will sound better on the radio by using the TV broadcast as its play-by-play. No longer will be there be different analysis done by different people because the single broadcast removes those other voices who bring a different perspective and different experiences to the game. Losing those voices doesn't make the game better.

My hope is that Bob McElligott gets picked up by another team because he was very good at his job. For the handful of games that I heard him call, he was always professional, sounded well-prepared, and called the game with passion. Wherever he lands, he'll bring those traits to his new job, but I really hope he finds his way back to a hockey broadcast booth. His talents make the game sound great!

Oscar Wilde wrote in The Picture of Dorian Gray, "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." It appears that the Columbus Blue Jackets are fully prepared to test that famous quotation this season.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Pennies On The Dollar

I'll always be the last guy to credit Rogers Communications with anything intelligent based on how they spend their money, but there are certain things that happen where one has to ask the obvious questions that go with what transpired. Rogers was busy today announcing that they had reached a deal with Amazon Prime Video to have Bezos' streaming service exclusively broadcast Wednesday night, regular-season, national NHL games and early-round Stanley Cup Playoff series in both English and French for the next twelve years. And for as greedy as Rogers is know to be, this deal seems like buyer's remorse.

Amazon Prime Video will now have the exclusive rights to Wednesday night where they'll compete with TNT Sports for hockey fans' eyes, but you can add another streaming service to your collection of bills after this announcement. For $99 annually, you can watch Amazon's collection of Wednesday games they choose to show on their national broadcast which will see "at least 26 national regular-season NHL games, beginning on Wednesday, September 30, available only on Prime Video in Canada at no additional cost to Prime members."

Add that onto your $350 annual fee for Sportsnet+ and any fees to watch games that the NHL might be producing for the four teams - Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues - who signed on with their centralized production group, and simply watching hockey on TV is becoming a thing of the past. With everything being streamed on multiple services, we're back to the cable model that everyone tried to abandon a few years ago.

The title of this article isn't about that, though. Instead, it's a question that goes to the very heart of Rogers' 12-year, $11-billion deal they signed with the NHL because you'd think a company with five network sports stations and a streaming service that recently raised its annual price would want more content that Canadians love.

If Rogers was looking to sell one night of their annual $917-million deal, it would clock in around $131 million. Of course, there were no details on the financial deal that Amazon made with Rogers to acquire the rights to Wednesday night games, but you know they aren't paying $131 million annually for those rights. If they are, they need their heads checked as much as those people making decisions for Rogers. With "at least 26 national regular-season NHL games", Amazon isn't spending $5 million per game for those rights.

Again, I have no proof that they aren't spending $5 million per game, but there's no way Amazon makes money if they are. And if they spent less than $5 million per game, that means that Rogers sold Wednesday night rights for pennies on the dollar. On the low chance that Amazon did spend more than $5 million per game, why wouldn't they just buy the regional rights to teams who need regional coverage for much less? I know at least one French-speaking province and team who doesn't have a regional broadcaster for next year.

Again, it begs the question as to why Rogers sold off Wednesday nights at all if Amazon thinks it can make money with those broadcasts. If Amazon could generate enough subscription and ad revenue from those broadcasts, Rogers wouldn't let someone else benefit from those rights when they owned them. That makes me think that they aren't seeing the returns they want, and they'll trying to recover some money by ridding themselves of one night of games per week where they generate the least revenue every week.

And let's not forget that Amazon had Monday night games last season they had bought from Rogers! Why switch nights for the next twelve years unless they discovered that Mondays can be profitable?

No one is going to come out and explain why Rogers and Amazon made this deal from each side's perspective, but if you think that Rogers is generating more than a billion dollars per year while broadcasting hockey, I have barrels of snake oil to sell you. This is the first sign that the financial bubble the hockey world lives in might be close to bursting based on how that financial model plays out.

Economist Hyman P. Minsky's research identifies five bubble phases: displacement, boom, euphoria, profit-taking, and panic, explaining the progression from excitement to market collapse. The NHL went through its displacement phase with the hirng of Gary Bettman in the 1990s as it changed rules, added new teams, and marketed everything it could. The boom phase saw more fans gain access to things to which they never had access before, pushing the NHL into its euphoria phase where everything could be monetized with the NHL forecasting that the revenue will not diminish. That leads us to the profit-taking phase where everyone is making as much money as they can as fast as they can, forgetting that money and revenue streams are finite. All that's left after this phase is panic.

Rogers owns something that should be an asset, but the value of that asset is less than what Rogers paid for it, making it a debt. The bubble formed when asset prices surged far above their intrinsic value thanks to speculative market prices that the NHL created thanks to its always-rising economic forecast. And now that the prices are far too high for most people's budgets, revenues will begin to dry up and the bubble will burst, causing significant financial losses and economic problems for years to come. Rogers should be worried.

Of course, Rogers could sell other days to networks and streaming services to cut their losses, but I get the sense that ego and pride will stand in the way of making deals with Bell Media or CraveTV. Rogers has deep enough pockets to weather the losses they may incur as long as their shareholders are ok with it, so I'd expect more price increases for Sportsnet cable channels and their streaming service before they sell off other days. After all, someone will pay their insane prices to watch hockey, right? Revenue is all that matters.

With the costs to watch hockey from the comfort of your own home skyrocketing, with ticket prices at an all-time high in all markets, with merchandise prices higher than ever before, and with equipment and ice-time pricing rising faster than the temperature in Death Valley, hockey is standing on a dangerous cliff where they are close to financially alienating the middle-class fan. The NHL isn't trying to grow the game as much as they're trying to grow their bottom line and hockey-related revenues, so don't be surprised if people start finding their entertainment elsewhere this winter.

It's hard to like the world's best hockey league when all it does is treat its fans like ATMs, so maybe it's time to move on. Like a good investor, it's better to cut your losses and get out before one falls into moral and financial ruin. Just don't say you weren't warned.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

TBC: Cutting Edge

I'll be the first to admit that I've likely forgotten more about hockey than what I know. That's not to say that I should stop learning, but it does reinforce the importance to keep learning and reading about the game. I enjoy the history of the game when presented in a fun way, player biographies often bring insight, and I'm always looking for something that will give me better understanding of how the game is presented. Thanks to Arsenal Pulp Press, I was given an opportunity to read a book that has yet to hit bookstore shelves about a topic I admittedly have very little knowledge. Teebz's Book Club is proud to review Cutting Edge: Hockey as Queer Culture, written by Daniel Gawthrop and published by Arsenal Pulp Press. Gawthrop examines the game from every angle when it comes to LGBTQ+ culture in hockey, and I feel that this book could help the hockey world understand its own shortcomings with respect to the LGBTQ+ community that Gawthrop puts under the microscope with this book.

From the Arsenal Pulp Press website, "Daniel Gawthrop (he/him) is the author of six non-fiction books, including The Trial of Pope Benedict and The Rice Queen Diaries (both Arsenal Pulp Press), and one novel, Double Karma (Cormorant Books). A co-founder of the Cutting Edges, Vancouver's LGBTQ+ hockey association, he has written extensively about hockey for numerous publications. He lives in New Westminster, BC." Gawthrop also plays hockey with the Cutting Edges hockey team, worked as a reporter for the Hope Standard and Vancouver Sun, freelanced as a journalist, and served as a communications representative for the Canadian Union of Public Employees in his storied and illustrious career. He continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ causes and events.

Before I get into discussing Cutting Edge, I want to make it clear that I, as a cisgender, white, straight male, wasn't sure what I was going to read when I started flipping pages. My anger towards the NHL and their defence of players who spoke out about Pride Night festivities still burns when the NHL pumps its own tired about inclusivity while my exposure to women's hockey where same-sex relationships are often seen has allowed me to gain better understanding of some of the challenges that gay and lesbian hockey players face, but my depth of that understanding is barely surface deep as I haven't faced the same discrimination or had the same experiences as the LGBTQ+ community in hockey. My hope was that Cutting Edge would build on the admittedly little knowledge I had. That's where we'll begin.

Gawthrop doesn't waste any time in Cutting Edge by looking at one of the most well-known hockey figures in history in Hobey Baker by turning his story on its side by connecting the dots that could lead one to seeing Baker in a different light. While the evidence is there to possibly have one of hockey's best players as a gay man, no one has ever said that about Baker. Could Baker have been the first homosexual man in the sport's history? There's enough evidence to make one wonder based upon what's presented in Chapter One!

Gawthrop takes us through the history of hockey's whiter-than-white past, introducing the reader to where Gawthrop began to take an interest in the game. I won't give way which team's grace and beauty dazzled the young writer, but it would be two players who captured Gawthrop's attention for very different reasons, giving him enough thought-provoking material to fill early chapters in Cutting Edge!

Gawthrop does an excellent job in introducing readers to the Cutting Edges hockey team, exposing why many gay men move away from hockey while growing up, displaying the often-toxic hypermasculinity found in the game, examining the constant brutal ways masculinity is portrayed in the game, and providing enough evidence of each of these issues through the first hundred pages that you may question where else Gawthrop can go in his writing. From there, Gawthrop showed how he found his niche in the hockey world, how others navigated the hockey world despite numerous negative stereotypes shown towards the LGBTQ+ community, and how the NHL world struggled to accept the LGBTQ+ community when facing it.

I was often left amazed and, quite frankly, proud of how the LGBTQ+ community handled the gatekeeping and toxic masuclinity it faced throughout hockey's existence, particularly at the NHL level. Gawthrop himself faced a number of realizations as he also grew as a person and writer to have a better understanding of the game's nuances during this time, and his reflection upon himself is walked in-step with the reader as issues like sexual abuse, hazing, and mental health situations are better examined and understood.

Reading the chapters about women's hockey growing and having more BIPOC players in both men's and women's hockey, Gawthrop faded into the background, allowing others to have a more prominent voice. This was evident in Chapter 16: Breaking the Hockey Binary where Gawthrop shared the experiences and stories told by Harrison Browne and Jessica Platt, two transgender players, including what they had to overcome to be professional hockey players. It was here that Gawthrop realized the Cutting Edges had been describing itself as a "gay men's hockey team" despite being welcome to all, and trans player Sam Punzo didn't know if he'd be welcome, stating,

"'I think when you don't institutionalize [who the orgnaization is for] and you don't have language in it, it's left to interpretation, and it kind of creates a bit of ambiguity,' he explained. ''Gay men's hockey,' even though the intention behind it was to be inclusive, does send a message that it's not inclusive. In order to clarify, someone sould have to reach out or know somebody to be like, 'Oh, no, everyone's welcome.' Well, you'd have to know that. So, yeah, I think the [wording] change was huge, and times change. The description now, thirty years from now might not work too, right? But that's why we evolve and contonue to grow.'"

That comment from Punzo stuck with me as I finished reading Cutting Edge because Punzo is correct in that our language will change over the next thirty years as we become more knoweldgeable and have a better understanding of how to describe people who don't fit into a preconceived category. We should want to evolve, to change, and to be better so that everyone has a chance to be their best selves.

After all, aren't we told that hockey is supposed to be for everyone?

Overall, Cutting Edge: Hockey as Queer Culture is a book that doesn't shy away from the hard questions needed to be asked about sexuality, gender, and how they fit into the game of hockey. Daniel Gawthrop doesn't demand the reader abandon one's beliefs as much as he simply asks the reader to have an open mind about the discussions he generates. It took me about a week to get through Cutting Edge simply because I had to put the book down at points to process what I had read, but these moments allowed me reflect on the topics that Gawthrop framed. Because this book is another important step in understanding what hockey can do and where hockey can be better for everyone, Cutting Edge: Hockey as Queer Culture absolutely deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

Cutting Edge: Hockey as Queer Culture will be released on September 8, 2026, and you can order a copy of the book from the linked Arsenal Pulp Press site above. It took me picking this book a few times to get through all the chapters that Daniel Gawthrop wrote, and the topics in those chapters are intended for a mature audience with the occasional unsavoury word used. In saying that, Cutting Edge should be read by everyone in the game of hockey in order gain a better understanding of how to be inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!